Chapter 4:

The Meeting

"One, two, three. Ah!"

"It's not working!"

"I'll try again! One, two, three. Ah!"

"Sephiroth, stop! She's gone!"

"No! She can't be gone! I won't accept that! One, two, three. Ah!"

My consciousness began to resurface, but not enough for my body to make any signs that I was alive. I don't know how long he was giving me CPR before I began to wake up. I could feel a breeze on my chest, along with slight pressure. It took a few seconds for me to realize that the pressure was Sephiroth's hand, and they had opened my shirt. I could feel his mouth on mine, breathing air into my lungs. I wished I could have returned the feeling. He was also… no… he couldn't have been crying.

"Michiko, please don't…" Sephiroth gasped. "One, two, three. Ah!"

"Sephiroth, stop. It's too late," I heard Anima repeat Luben's cry.

"No… One… Two… Three… Ah!"

With that last burst of air, enough oxygen was in my body for me to show signs of life. I began coughing violently.

"Michiko," Sephiroth whispered as he held my face in his hands. A few tears stained his face. "I knew you were going to live."

"We thought you would drown," Anima said. "Sephiroth knocked Yuffie over and dove in after you."

"How long has it been?" I asked weakly.

"About ten minutes from the time you went under to now," Luben whispered. I couldn't believe it was only ten minutes.

"What happened to Yuffie and Barret?" I muttered.

"Yuffie ran off. Barret… well, why don't you see for yourself?" Sephiroth sighed. I sat up and saw Barret sprawled on the ground. He was lying in a pool of blood. I could see that my arrow hadn't missed; it was sticking out of his chest, deep enough to pierce his heart and reach through to his back.

"My god," I gasped. "I killed a man…"

"You did it in self-defense," Anima pointed out. "Even though it was a few seconds late."

"Has the scan finished?" I turned to Luben.

"Yeah. There's one out in Kauko. It closes at midnight in three weeks," Luben explained. "I managed to get a reading of where it'll take anyone entering it. It will take Sephiroth directly to his planet."

"Three weeks. I guess we should head out," I said. I stood, but my legs were terribly weak. They gave out, causing me to fall into Sephiroth's arms.

"We camp in the cave tonight. You need to rest," he whispered soothingly.

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I felt like I was going to faint from heat exhaustion. They forced me to wrap up tightly in my blanket and sit so close to the fire, I felt like I was a candle. I finally convinced them that I was warm enough and we all went to bed. Luben took first watch that night. Anima tried to give Sephiroth and I her sleeping bag, but we refused. His cloak was enough for him, and my blanket was going to be enough for this night. Sephiroth was huddled against the wall, the fire giving his face an eerie look. I approached and laid next to him.

"Thank you," I muttered. "You know, for saving my life."

"Anytime. Here," he whispered. Sephiroth stretched out along the wall and patted his abdomen, signaling me to lie against him. He used his arms as a pillow while I used his stomach. "Good night, Michiko."

"Good night," I muttered sleepily. I fell asleep quickly.

I woke up a few hours later to the sound of Luben waking up Anima so she could take her post. I wished I hadn't laid in a position so I could see them; they were locked in what I knew would be a short kiss. I was right. Anima went to her post mere seconds later while Luben curled up in the bag.

I tried to roll over, but found I couldn't. I noticed then that Sephiroth had wrapped an arm around me and wasn't letting go. I grinned and adjusted my position slightly so I could see his face. I had been so focused on my duties the night before, I hadn't even thought of looking at him. He had laid so I couldn't see his face even if I had looked. When I caught sight of his face, I was shocked. He looked like a true angel, even though he was the exact opposite. His mouth was curled into a slight smile, strands of hair floated over his face, and his eyes were gently shut. He seemed at peace. It was so different from when he was passed out two days ago. It hit me then; we had only known each other for two days, yet we had been through so much, and I already had such strong feelings for him. I wanted to return the kiss he gave me the other night, but I was unable to move his strong arm. Instead, I kissed his hand. I realized in that moment of seeing his face that I would give anything and everything for the love of this angel. As I fell back into slumber, I realized with a slight pang of both anger and exuberance that that included giving my life for this man.

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Once again, we set out just before dawn. Kauko was two and a half weeks away, so we would make it just in time for Sephiroth to go through. At least, I prayed we would make it. I didn't want him to ever leave, but I could understand that he wanted to go home. I had only been away for a couple of days and I wanted to go home, but I was different. If I decided not to help anymore, I could just turn around and go back to my cabin. I could clean up the blood, give Therapon a funeral, and move on with my life. Sephiroth couldn't go home that easily. Ever since, well, however long it's been since the Nibelheim Reactor mission, he's never really been able to move on with his life. I remember that Cloud's flashback of the incident at the beginning of the game used to be my favorite part. Now that I know everything in the game is true, I felt horrible about feeling that way. It caused Sephiroth such pain. I couldn't bear it.

We managed to make it to the edge of the woods with no problem, but when we reached it, somebody else reached us.

"Hold it!"

"Not that piece of-" Sephiroth started as he made to turn around.

"Just ignore them," I hissed in his ear. I figured it was Tifa or Yuffie since the voice was feminine. The next moment, we heard rustling in the trees tops, and an arrow landed in front of us. It narrowly missed hitting our feet.

"Are you the one they call Sephiroth?" the woman said loudly as she leapt out of the trees. I gasped even louder than she yelled when I saw her face. She looked exactly like me. "I've been hired by Cloud to track you down."

"Whoa…" Luben muttered as we held our weapons ready. "Two Michiko's?"

"No. My name is Takako, and I am your twin sister," she grinned evilly. We stood in silence, my friends staring at me. I wished they hadn't; I was just as confused as them and was beginning to blush. I looked at the ground quietly. "You know it's true."

"No!" I cried, shaking my head violently. "I never had a sister!"

"But you did. When we were born, mom and dad sent me to live with another family. I was later told that they never wanted twins, so they kept you because you were born five minutes earlier," she growled. Takako raised her bow and fitted an arrow in. "And now I finally become the eldest."

"You let go of your arrow and I let go of mine!" I called as I, too, raised my weapon. We stared at each other. Time seemed to freeze. She finally lowered her bow.

"Well, then. I guess there's only one thing to do," she sighed. A few seconds passed before she muttered something so fast, we could barely catch it. "I complete my mission."

With no warning, she raised her bow and shot the arrow.

He had no time to react. I knew he should never have lowered Masamune.

"Ah," Sephiroth gasped when the arrow made contact with his stomach.

"SEPHIROTH, NO! You little bitch!" I screamed. I didn't care that she was my sister, nor did I care what I hit. I simply shot my arrows as quickly as I could in her direction. I was so filled with hate and tears clouded my vision so much, I finally closed my eyes and merely shot as fast as I could. I never even knew she left.

"Michiko, stop! She's gone! Knock it off!" Luben snapped. I was about to let go of the arrow when I felt his hand holding mine back. I relaxed and fell to the ground sobbing.

"Sephiroth, no…"

"We can still save him," Anima said. She was kneeling by him and removing the arrow gingerly. "I can't get the head out. We need to go to the hospital now."

"Michiko," Sephiroth whispered softly as I approached.

"Don't talk," I sighed sadly when I saw him cringing in pain. I grasped his hands carefully, my tears dripping onto them. His eyes closed immediately after. We made haste to the hospital.

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We waited hours for the doctors to finish. I had begged to be in there with him, but they forbid it. I was horrified that a weapon as simple as an arrow could pierce the man. We sat in silence the whole time. I nearly tackled the doctor when he came out.

"What happened? Is he okay?" I demanded.

"Your friend will be just fine. You'll be able to see him in a few minutes," the doctor replied. "He's a very odd person. He woke up just before we went in, but demanded that he went through without any anesthesia. We also did an analysis of his blood and found some interesting things in it."

"Like what?" Anima asked.

"There were a lot of green cells in the bloodstream. He said he had them his whole life. It seems that he would rather have them. We're going to drain them tomorrow."

"No!" I said quickly. He looked at me oddly. I tried to find an explanation quick. "He's had those cells his whole life. If he's gone through life this well, why take them out now? After all, nobody is born with strange cells in their blood. Somebody must have put them there for a reason."

"Well, it's up to him," the doctor shrugged. "You may walk with him to recovery."

As he said this statement, a nurse was pushing a gurney out of the operating room. I ran to Sephiroth's side.

"I'll take him down," I said to the nurse.

"Fine, dear. Room 45, end of the hall, last door on the right," the nurse smiled as I rolled my friend down the hall.

"How do you feel?"

"Better than when blood was gushing out of my stomach and an arrow was digging a new ulcer into it," he sighed quietly. "You look like you've been through hell."

"It's worry. I was afraid for you."

"Why would you be afraid for me?" Sephiroth muttered.

"Never mind," I shook my head. "They want to drain your Jenova cells."

"No," he said automatically. "They're what give me my strength."

"Then they won't do it," I concluded as we entered the room. I helped him into the bed and sat a few minutes in silence. "Did it hurt? When she shot you?"

"A little," Sephiroth whispered. He leaned back on his pillow. "Michiko, I-"

He never finished the statement. We heard an explosion and screaming outside. He was out of bed before I realized what he was doing. I followed Sephiroth into the hall as Anima ran up.

"Cloud's here! He tracked us!" she gasped. "Luben's downstairs. We have to leave!"

"Let's go," I nodded to Sephiroth. We dashed to the lobby and found Luben locked in combat with Tifa. Much to my surprise, he was losing.

"So, I see the mighty Sephiroth had to be hospitalized," Cloud taunted when he saw us. "You disappoint me. You didn't even have the balls to kill Barret with your own hands. You had to get your girlfriend to do it."

"What do you mean girlfriend?" Sephiroth demanded as he and Cloud circled each other.

"You haven't noticed how she looks at you? You don't even realize what she's done for you?" Cloud laughed. "Even I know what she was trying to say the day I found you in the house. She was trying to tell you that she loves you."

"You lying piece of-" Sephiroth began. He stopped when Vincent shot a bullet by his head.

"I've been waiting for you, Sephiroth."

"Why don't you go back to your coffin where you belong?"

"Why should I go when it's you who is going to die tonight?" Vincent said smoothly.

The group forgot about the rest of us and began to trap Sephiroth. I began to look around for something to distract them. I noticed that one of the plants had caught fire from the explosion. I still don't know exactly what caused it. Anyway, I tore off four strips of fabric from my clothes, wrapped them around my arrows, and ran to the plant. When the arrows were ablaze, I fired them at Cloud, Yuffie, Tifa, and Vincent, one right after the other.

"You little bitch!" Cloud snapped when he saw his cape on fire. He charged at me and nearly caught my arm. Anima managed to nail his leg. As he lay screaming, the four of us charged through the others and ran like all hell had broken loose. We didn't know then that it truly had. We never stopped running until there were two towns between us and the hospital.

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Lots of info in this chapter. Okay, onto review answers!

Mediciner: I hope you don't mind me using your way of replying to reviews… Yep, I create 'em, I destroy 'em! Actually, I don't kill all of them. Careful with the stress ball! (I squeezed one too hard once and it exploded in the living room… not a pretty sight!) Thanks for reading both stories!

kizna1200: I think you and Soul Vagabond would get along well! You're good at deductions. Ever thought of a career as a detective? I didn't even know you wanted me to kill Barret… If not a traditional detective, maybe psychic detective? Anyway, thanks to you, too!

Soul Vagabond: Yeah, but the readers never know who, do they? points at Mediciner I know I do stuff like this a lot, but that's my style and I'm sticking to it!

REVIEW, PEOPLES!

NINJA MAGE